A review by lefthandedmatt
Rogue: Section 31 by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels
2.0
I was looking forward to this one, expecting a tale of intrigue and spy games. That doesn't happen at all, unfortunately. 'Rogue' is a plodding book in which it feels like barely anything happens. Bizarrely told mostly in flashback, it tells the story of the Enterprise-E crew as they petition a strategically valuable planet for Federation membership alongside the Romulans wanting the same for their own Empire.
It doesn't get much more exciting than that, right? In the background, a couple of agents for the mysterious Section 31 are attempting to sabotage the talks for their own gain, and there's a rebellion going on down on the planet and etc, etc.
What the book does do well is portray the characters. The trusty Next Generation crew all feel right and it's easy to imagine the dialogue coming out of the actor's mouths. Additionally, it does a pretty good job with the character of Lt. Hawk (who appears in the film Star Trek: First Contact) and fill out his back story. We also get reunited with Picard's old academy friends, Marta and Corey (from the TNG episode 'Tapestry') and I did enjoy most of the stuff with them - although I was expecting Picard to recall the events of that episode and what Q put him through, but it never comes up, which seemed very strange.
Overall, a bit of a grind to get through and when the action does finally happen I just wasn't that interested in it. The framing chapters, especially the one at the end, are quite nice, though.
It doesn't get much more exciting than that, right? In the background, a couple of agents for the mysterious Section 31 are attempting to sabotage the talks for their own gain, and there's a rebellion going on down on the planet and etc, etc.
What the book does do well is portray the characters. The trusty Next Generation crew all feel right and it's easy to imagine the dialogue coming out of the actor's mouths. Additionally, it does a pretty good job with the character of Lt. Hawk (who appears in the film Star Trek: First Contact) and fill out his back story. We also get reunited with Picard's old academy friends, Marta and Corey (from the TNG episode 'Tapestry') and I did enjoy most of the stuff with them - although I was expecting Picard to recall the events of that episode and what Q put him through, but it never comes up, which seemed very strange.
Overall, a bit of a grind to get through and when the action does finally happen I just wasn't that interested in it. The framing chapters, especially the one at the end, are quite nice, though.